Pirates battle hard, but fall late to Santa Ana

COSTA MESA -- Taking on one of the top pitchers in the state, the Orange Coast College softball team had its hands full on Wednesday and pushed Santa Ana College to the edge, but in the end, the Dons pulled out a 3-2 Orange Empire Conference win over the host Pirates.

SAC starting pitcher Emily Rosas improved on her state lead in wins (15) and strikeouts (123) with a complete-game performance, holding the Pirates (9-7, 2-4 in the OEC) to two runs on two hits with two walks and eight Ks.

After giving up a two-run home run in the top of the first, OCC pitcher Ashley Hester did her best to keep the Pirates in the game, shutting down the Dons (15-2, 6-0) for the remainder of the game. She, too, went the distance and allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits with a walk and three strikeouts.

In the bottom of the third, OCC eliminated its two-run deficit. Julia Douglass reached base and advanced to second on a throwing error by Rosas. Two batters later, Emilie Lapena singled to move Douglass to third and when Lapena got into a rundown between first and second, Douglass came around to score to cut the SAC lead in half.

After Lapena stole second, the freshman right fielder went to third on a wild pitch and scored on a wild throw by the Dons' catcher to even the game at 2.

It stayed that way until top of the fifth, when Santa Ana's Airilin Ramirez doubled to right, advanced to third on a ground out and scored on a costly wild pitch, putting the Dons up for good.

Coast had runners on base in the fifth and sixth innings, but could not find the key hit against Rosas, who allowed two unearned runs to lower her ERA to 0.77, fifth-best in the state.

The Pirates will return to action on Friday at Riverside City College (2 p.m.) before returning to the OCC Softball Complex on Monday for a nonconference matchup with Citrus College, beginning at 2:30 p.m.